Hard at Play - CSI DT challenge 120

Take a look at the whimsical case file this week- Isn't it cute?

I hope you will be inspired to play along.

CLICK HERE
To have a look at the creativity of the Design Team

 A few close ups.

The floral paper is by Simple Stories, Elements, "Fresh Air"
An old flair from my stash - October Afternoon "Sidewalk"

I used Gesso and a roller stamp "Wild & Free"
Some builders tape
A splash of Dylusions "Fresh Lime"

I chose to write a Haiku about a day in the life of DGD.  She’s a hundred mile an hour kind of girl.  Restless, always busy, darting about like a rainbow lorikeet, never settling anywhere for long.  I found the limitations of the haiku difficult, but it made me focus on each word.

EVIDENCE
Stripes
Textured paper - dry embossing on the blue
Mixed media background
Gesso
Animal accents - on the flair
Wet medium

TESTIMONY
Restless legs skip by
Throw sand, chase the dog and cat
Now quiet and still

Cherished Memories Together - GD for Scrap 365

It was an honour to be asked to Guest Design for Scrap365 

using the sketch for May.  Thank you Ali.
If you don't know about Scrap365, it's a wonderful English magazine,
click HERE 
to see what it's all about.

I love these Maja papers, which I have been saving for a special layout.

The lace borders were punched with Martha Stewart

Vintage Floral, punch around the page.

The lacy heart frame is from Manor House

Prima made the floral flair

The title chipboard pieces are from Scrapmatts

I love the little resin angel by Prima
The stamping is "Lattice" by Kaiser craft
The butterfly is from DIY invitations - an Office Works range

The journalling reads:-

We were baby sitting you on this day and persuaded you to sit still for a few seconds to take a couple of photos.  I think this one captures the imp in you.   You are such a live wire of a child, with absolutely no fear; so I’ve popped an angel on your page to guard and guide you on the journey of life.   Love Granny

Reach for the sky - CSI 119 - DT

As I have three Grandsons, 
I often use the colours of the challenge today 119 at CSI. 

 But the DT have very disparate takes on the colours.

CLICK HERE 
to see all the different styles.

I'd love to see you join the challenge and share your creativity.

 

 I'm still trying to use up old stash and a search revealed 

Three Bugs in a rug, "Ribbit"the spotty green border

 and Kaisercraft Peachy Keen, " "Neat" the teal background. 

The patterned circles are Kaisercraft, Photo Friendly "Spirograph"

Always a good feeling to make inroads into the stash!

 I freshened the look with some new papers.
The cloud and kite were cut from Simple Stories, Fresh Air, "Elements"
The wooden plane is from Studio Calico

Tiny chippy Alphas from Imaginarium

Green alphas from LillyBee design

And a yummy flair from Studio Fourteen 40

The metal key with wings is from Paper Flourish, my LSS 

The bicycle paper is a remnant of Websters

The tag is Crate Paper, is reasonably new, Market heirloom

 

A little globe, cut from a Cuttlebug die

Super fun arrow from Heidi Swapp

A bit of misting through a Mr Hueys stencil and voila

EVIDENCE
Wood - tiny plane on the cloud
Globe
Tags
Metal

TESTIMONY
I used the words bright and journey - the journalling is on the back and it reads:-
I rescued this old rocking horse from the local men’s shed where they had been using it as a template for new toys.  They had left it out to go to the dump, so I brought it home and cleaned it up, ready for a new lease of life on the back verandah.

As soon as you saw it, you dashed in to get Puppy, (your cuddly toy), to take him for a ride.  You are mostly bright and love to laugh; ready to tackle any new adventure. 

No matter where your travels take you and what you experience as you reach for the sky, I hope you will always remember the happy times you spent with us. You bring light, love and laughter into our lives and we are delighted that you choose to spend time with us.  Love Granny April 2014

Distressing with household items - challenge 28 Scrap Africa DT

The challenge is to choose household items to distress your project.

e.g. coffee, tea, bleach, vaseline

CLICK HERE 

to see what the DT have created.   I'd love to see you come and play.

Salt and clear glue were the two items I chose to experiment with.

I remember reading about the process in a magazine some time 

ago and thought it sounded exciting and unpredictable.

First I spritzed water onto some watercolour paper

then added some random water colour paint wash.

 

Before the ink dried, I drizzled  clear glue and rock salt on top

 These two items cause the paint to clump and repel in random spots.

When the paint is completely dry, I just brushed the salt off with my hands.

The finished tag, trimmed with a Julie Nutting doll and a bit of bling.

Ready to pop - 118 CSI challenge

Today I'm sharing a DT page for CSI 118 using a sketch by Em Stafrace.

Don't be daunted by the amount of Evidence and Testimony Prompts.

You need to use all five colours

At least two of the Evidence prompts 

And at least one of the Testimony prompts

Why not pop over to

CSI Color stories inspiration

and check out the creativity of the DT?

 I had these photos ready to scrap

which fitted the theme very well.

I used the Bo Bunny range - Baby bump, "Baby bundle" (stripes)

 

and Baby Bump, "Expecting" (balloons) 

 The Prima stencil is "Elemental half tone"

The yummy flair is from FOURTEEN40

The heart is from Freckled Fawn 

and the arrows are from Studio Calico

The stamping is "Triangles" by Kaisercraft 

EVIDENCE
White background
Hearts
Arrows
Doodling
Beads

TESTIMONY
I used the Inspiration words, bold and confidence in my journalling, which is on the back of the page.

We took you for an overnight stay in the caravan at the beach.  You were excited to be in the van, opening every door and investigating how everything worked.  You were amazed that the table converted into a bed for you to sleep on. “How can you turn a table into a bed?” “That’s a bit funny Granny”! Unfortunately, at bed time we discovered that you didn’t have your dummy.  Arghh!   Sunday night in our town is not known for ready availability of anything other than petrol.  But Pa managed to source a replacement dummy and your eyes lit up when he walked in.  “Thank you sooooo much Pa, that’s very kind of you”!   



The caravan park has a water play area which initially you viewed with the gravest suspicion.  You stayed close to us and observed.  Gradually you circled around the water jets, checking all the time what the other children were doing.  But soon, you deemed it looked safe and you boldly dashed in and out, squealing with delight.  It was wonderful to see your confidence blossom with each sortie and you still talk about the water park many months later.    Love Granny October 2013

Favourite Photos - DT for CSI 117

There's a couple of my favourite colours in the Case file this week…

I love green and blue combined.

The quirky image made me smile so I wanted to scrap 

something to do with transport.

Would you like to write about something mind boggling?

Write a poem?

Document a quirk?

Then this is the challenge for you.

CLICK HERE

For details and examples from the DT and Guest designers

I used a sketch by

LIZ CHIDESTER  to kick start my ideas

The background paper is by Little Yellow Bicycle - Paradise, "Happy dots"

The gorgeous flairs are from an Aussie company

STUDIO FORTEEN 40 

Yellow frame is from Pink Paislee

Chipboard title from Imaginarium Designs

The blue frame is by Crate Paper, the Pier collection

The vine chipboard is from Dusty Attic

The wooden arrows and little bicycle - Studio Calico

Metal cogs and sprockets are by Tim Holtz

Some old Kaisercraft rubons

and Tim Holtz washi tape

The yellow paper is vintage Making Memories

EVIDENCE

Cogs, gears

Circles

Metal

Flowers

Rub ons

Butterflies

Bicycle

Arrows

Numbers (bottom left)

Once again, my photos are not great, but I wanted to tell the story of this small, everyday moment, which gave our Grandson such delight - fixing the tyres and getting his hands dirty while helping his beloved Pa.  

TESTIMONY

I chose to write my journalling as a poem. Sincere apologies to fans of Banjo Patterson. If you don’t know the Australian poem,  "The man from Snowy River", you can find it HERE

The journalling is on the back of the layout and it reads:-

There was movement at the homestead, for the word had passed around,

that the tyres on the car were nearly flat,

They’d sagged upon the driveway - needing quick attention

So the compressor was summoned from the back.

The old man and his Grandson gathered on the driveway,

eager to put the tyres to right.

The young one loved the action, as the tool box quickly opened,

And the photos show a glimpse of his delight.

With valve caps off and gauge in action, they bent to do the task,

The old man with his hair as white as snow;

His patience long and wide - just the sort that won’t say die.

He tended to the tyre with boy in tow.

They had the repair job done, in absolute record time,

Their dirty hands a record of their deed,

It’s hard to say who loved it most - the old man or the kid,

All done in time to wash their hands for tea.

Delight - Scrap Africa Sketch challenge - 28

Two posts in one day!!! Gracious me.
This is a DT page for Scrap Africa. 

It's a C&S style, just right for a small photo.

HERE is the link, 

if you'd like to hop over to have a look at what the DT have created.
I'd love to see your take on the sketch - there are prizes to be won.

I photographed the layout at a different time from the close ups

and have not been able to get the colours to match now.  Lesson learned.

The papers are by Pebbles - Family Ties, "Brother" (blue paper)

The Green polka dots are from the same collection, "Family"

and the bird houses are fussy cut from the reverse of "Family" 

The title is an epoxy sticker by Heidi Swapp

The flair is from Studio Fourteen40, 

an Australian company in Melbourne

CLICK HERE

To see their amazing collection of flairs for all occasions.

The filmstrip is older stash, by Kaisercraft 

The journalling reads:-

On a mild summer day, you and your brother asked to have the play dough.  I said “It’s all gone hard, someone left the lids off.”  “Oh no!” you said, “Who did that?”  “It was you and your cousin.”  I replied.   You both smiled “Sorry Granny, we didn’t mean to.”  So, we sat under the verandah to make a new batch.   We had conditioner & cornflour everywhere and you were delighted to be legitimately able to make a mess.    Love Granny - 18 Feb 2014

Meg's Garden

Today I'm sharing a page as GD for Meg's Garden, 

using a brand new collection of papers 

designed by Denise Boddey, the Damask Garden Collection. 

MEG’S GARDEN PRODUCTS 

  I used “Damask in shades of green”

The papers are a delight to create with and lend themselves

 to many different styles.  

I've chosen to use a vintage photo as I think 

the muted grey/greens of this paper 

work superbly with the delicate frock and the bobbed hair style.

I chose the Bluey/purple colours as a foil for the delicate damask tones.

The extra strip was used to fussy cut some of 

the leaves to create the vine along the right.

I chose a textured alphabet cardstock to mat with, 

because Maris was a teacher for years. 

That long ago it was rare for a married woman to continue to teach. 

 She also had a family of five to care for.

The chipboard M was coated with gesso, then dabbed randomly 

with Glimmer mist and Gold paint to give an antique look.

The same treatment was used on the ornate corner frame 

and I added some seed beads as well.

This page was inspired by the sublime work of Heather Jacobs.

If you have not seen her Art, do yourself a favour and pop over to her blog.

I also made a card with paper from the new collection.

The flowers are fussy cut from P6368 "Blue and cream damask"

Apart from the texture paste background, some beads and ribbon,

I wanted to keep the card relatively simple to allow the flowers to shine.

The inside of the card.

Extensive journalling is on the back of the layout, 

so the papers and the design take centre stage.

Circus - CSI/s365 - 5

Today I'm sharing a combined challenge set by Debbi Tehrani

 at CSI for s365 - 5. It has a circus theme.

I was so inspired by the Case File photo.  

It lead me to scrap a very ordinary photo, 

but the only one I have to tell the story of the day.

Sometimes any image is better than none.
If you'd like to play along, you have a chance to be selected
to create a layout for a future s365 magazine publication
CLICK HERE

I wanted to create a child like, naive style page with gelatos.

First, I sketched a rough outline, before colouring with gelatos and pencils. 

I added water, but not a lot, as I wanted to retain 

some of the hessian like texture as well.

The circus elements are from a cheap shop.

When flicking some paint around, 

I managed to make a frightful mess - what to do?

Ah hah - some camouflage in the form of some greenery.

The grass is from some ancient stickers.

EVIDENCE

Stripes

Animal accents

Paint

Scallops

Circus theme products

TESTIMONY

I chose to write about “Something silly.”  

The journalling is on the back of the page and it reads:-

I’m reluctant to say that the twins third birthday was a three ringed circus, however, the noise level was high and there was plenty of monkey business going on.   Here we have the troupe all roped up for their epic high wire act around the kitchen.  The ring master was supervising from the side and the intrepid leader forged ahead, with his support act tethered safely behind him.  Fortunately no one tumbled off and the act was deemed a roaring success. The clown juggled for attention and the Elephant balanced precariously on a ball, whilst the Lion could be heard roaring in the distance. However, the high wire act was voted top act by the audience.   Stay tuned for the next exciting appearance of "Flying Rascals".   January 2014   Love Granny